English text : Great opportunity to meet and engage with food safety and quality peers and experts from the Near East Region

I was given the opportunity to participate in the Food and Safety and Quality conference held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 7-8 May 2014.

This participation allowed me to share the accomplishments of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, as the preeminent food international standard setter and the impacts of its standards at the regional level, with opportunities to drive convergence of food safety and quality standards across the Near East region.

Meeting with food safety and quality experts representing the broad stakeholder community from the region: academia, food processors and regulators, allowed me to hear and share views, experiences and insights into current challenges and opportunities in food standard development activities for the region. This visit allowed me to reiterate to colleagues from the region, Canada’s commitments, and mine as a candidate for the chair position of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, to impartial and collaborative leadership, with a focus on fostering an open dialogue amongst the Codex membership that supports consensus development, as a core value guiding Codex operations – Another milestone in “Working together to Advance Global Food Safety and Quality”.